The Easier Choice
Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek. Rated K+ simply because of the nature of the implied pairing.
Derek Venturi had always appreciated the easy way. Why do his science project why he could pay Edwin to do it? Or write a sociology essay when he could film a movie? Or clean the house when he could trick Casey into it?
It had always been that way with girls as well. He would have his fun and when things started to get unfun he would move on. Easy. That is, until she came along . . .
"Derek, you can't date her! You already have a girlfriend!" "Derek, think about how Kendra must feel!" "Derek, women are not objects for your amusement!"
And even when she wasn't around to call him out, he would hear her voice in his head telling him that what he was doing was wrong. Or he'd end up picturing Lizzie's soccer coach and thinking about that sleepless night he had when he found out what the guy was doing to her . . .
Ever since Casey had moved in, girls had started to seem downright difficult.
And Beth was no exception. Derek was acutely aware that she had feeling—feelings that need to be discussed. All the time.
And what was even worse was that she wanted to talk about his "feelings" as well. It was like everything had to be analyzed and dissected. Like every damn surge in the pit of his stomach needed to be explained and connected to what was going on in his life . . .
Damn annoying. Besides, Derek had this vague sense that thinking about those kind of things would somehow end badly . . . That was the hard way.
And so he had moved on. Breaking up with Beth had not been fun it but it was easier than not breaking up with her and talking about his "feelings."
It was shortly after he ended it that he decided to put girls on the shelf for a while.
One night he came downstairs to watch the hockey game and was annoyed to find Casey watching some sappy romance. Ordinarily, he would've just changed the channel but Nora happened to be watching with her.
"Is this sob fest almost over?" he snarked, plopping down in his chair. "The hockey game is going to start any minute."
"Well, too bad," Casey said. "You're going to have to wait at least another half an hour."
He sighed and leaned back in exasperation. With Nora there, he knew he would just have to wait . . .
It was an angsty foreign film about this pathetic loser who kept pining over some chick that was into someone else. After five torturous minutes of watching the thing, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Dude should just realize he can't have that chick and move on," he said. "Find some other girl. Or better yet, stay away from them all together. It would make his life soooo much easier."
Nora shot him a surprised look.
"Derek," Casey said rolling her eyes, "you have absolutely no concept of romance. Even though things look dark now, Francois refuses to give up hope. Deep down he knows that someday they'll be together and that all the suffering he's going through know will only make it sweeter when that day finally comes."
She got a dreamy expression on her face as she turned back toward the TV, and it was Derek's turn to roll his eyes.
"Ha," he laughed cynically. "Hate to burst your bubble, Case, but life doesn't work like that. Sometimes things just don't go the way you want . . . Especially for people with stupid names Francois."
"I don't even know why I bothered trying to explain it," said Casey. "I should have known that an insensitive clod like you couldn't appreciate this. Francois is strong and idealistic and devoted . . . Just like Max."
Derek felt nauseous. And really, he told himself, what guy wouldn't be disgusted by sickly sweet crap like that? Sticking his finger in his through he made melodramatic gagging noises.
"Derek, that's enough," said Nora. "If you don't like the movie you can go do something else."
Getting up from his chair to go get some food, it struck Derek that women were nothing but trouble. Maybe Francois was too stupid to realize that he didn't need that drama but Derek wasn't. And so began his no dating policy.
But then he met Sally. Not only was she hot, but he also found her surprisingly easy . . . She had a problem and she just took care of it. No crying. No drama. She was so totally unlike Kendra, Beth, and the queen of drama herself, Casey.
He thought she would be the perfect girl for him. Until, of course, he found out that she hadn't gotten rid of her boyfriend. It sort of made things difficult. So Derek decided to give up on that.
Well, at least that's what he told Casey. He wasn't going to go around moping about it like that pathetic Frenchy McFrench . . .
But as he was changing out of his Smelly Nelly's shirt, he realized that he hadn't quite given up. And somehow he knew that he wouldn't. He would continue to think about Sally and would let thoughts of her fill up his mind until he couldn't think of any other girl. He knew that things didn't always work out, but for some reason he thought they eventually might with Sally.
Yeah, for some reason he seemed to be taking the hard way this time and he wasn't really sure why. But then, dwelling on this strange development would probably be more trouble that it was worth. If he was going to take the hard way, he was going to take the hard way. No need to make it even more complicated by analyzing it to pieces . . .
He headed downstairs to make himself a sandwich and saw that while he had been changing Max had arrived. He was sitting with Casey on the couch and the two of them looked like they were about to kiss.
And again there was that damn surge in the pit of his stomach. And then the nausea. Telling himself that he was just hungry, Derek walked past them into the kitchen.
No, Derek Venturi was not the type of guy who thought about his feelings. If he had been, then it might have occurred to him that although continuing to think about Sally was not going to be all rainbows and sunshine, it was still the easier choice.